The Oct. 6-10 Super DIRT Week at Oswego (N.Y.) Speedway – another big event for World Racing Group – is an example of a track rental. That puts every detail, down to the smallest cell, on the shoulders of the company.
With more than 900 camping spots on the property, steps need to be followed to ensure permits are in place with the health department.
Due to a nuclear plant within five miles from the speedway, there needs to be approval from the Pentagon that there is a proper evacuation plan in place if there were to be an emergency situation.
“When you’re creating an area like that, and you have these mass gatherings, you have to be aware of everything,” Hachmann said. “We have to be aware of noxious weeds, believe it or not. We have to make sure we have sanitizers in all bags and if there’s a high mosquito count, we have to provide info on what to do if bit by one. And there’s working with the police and the fire.
“We have to worry about people crossing streets and the neighborhoods around the facility and make sure the flow of the traffic doesn’t hinder the neighbors. We have to make sure there’s access for them to go to the grocery store or go to Dunkin’ Donuts.”
Before coordinating those details comes the challenge of finding a proper spot on the schedule for an event. It’s not only about finding a prime spot on the schedule for fans to attend, but it’s also about making sure the travel makes sense logistically for the drivers and teams.
“There’s a lot of trial by fire in our world,” Carter said. “The calendar is mostly set. The sprint cars are quite a bit more established. For the late models, the calendar is a little more flexible. It’s also built around events we have less control over. But from a sprint car perspective, we’ve got the Month of Money, the huge shows in the summer, and we know when we’re starting the season and where we’re ending the season. It all has to fit in, and not only that, we have to manage 20 different businesses going up and down the road with us.”
“Bristol is a little bit unique because it provided a pretty large opportunity for us, as a sport for awareness, for the racers as merchandise sellers, a huge crowd, and a high-paying purse,” Carter added. “So, you can put that kind of an event in a place that may not make sense logistically because of the opportunity.”
The COVID-19 pandemic threw an unexpected curveball at the company last year, forcing the cancellation, re-creation, and creation of events throughout the year.
While it was challenging, the World of Outlaws and DIRTcar came out of it stronger.
It showed new methods that could be implemented, where the company could be more efficient and the strength of its team being able to salvage a successful season.
Those skills were put into practice again this year, when the spring West Coast Swing had to be canceled because of pandemic restrictions, and less than three weeks later a new spring schedule was released.
“We learned a lot during COVID,” Carter said. “We learned the fans are as flexible as we can be, relative to promoting a show. The shortest show we just pulled off was going back racing. In three weeks, we changed it from going to California to going back to Florida (in March). We learned a lot about what was necessary to put on a good show. We learned the value of having a direct relationship with the customer. We can communicate directly with emails, with our social following, with our website and through DIRTVision, we can communicate directly to the race fans.
“The better the communication is, the more flexible we can be with the events,” Carter continued. “We can capitalize on the direct relationship with the customers, which was started a decade ago when we created our own ticketing system.”
Once the I’s are dotted and the T’s are crossed, race day can commence. The on-track portion of the event is “the easiest part,” according to Hachmann.
That’s due to efficient formats being in place for every series, series directors making sure drivers and teams have all the information they need and race directors keeping control of the on-track action.
Everything off track – the display of banners, DIRTvision’s broadcast, fan engagement, ticketing and media relations – is handled by the coordinators of each element. For Hachmann, he just makes sure everyone has what they need to make each of those elements issue-free.
Most of that work will go unnoticed by fans, but that means everything went as planned.
That’s a testament to the months of work that goes into every event between the World of Outlaws sprint cars, World of Outlaws late models, Super DIRTcar Series and DIRTcar Racing.
“How long does it take to put on an event? It never stops,” Hachmann said.